Photo Credit: World Red Eye
If you were in Miami this week, it’s guaranteed that you spent your days and nights eating the best food and wines in the world from our favorite top chefs. The annual festival drew in boldface names that attended or exhibited at the festival, bringing all the power players in the culinary world together in our city. With four days worth of decadent dinners and lively activations, it’s tough to choose which one was our favorite. Here, we recap on some of the festival’s best highlights.
WEDNESDAY
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Taste Fort Lauderdale kicked off with Seaside Eats hosted by Anne Burrell. The Food Network host of Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition got the crowd up in Broward County pumped for the weekend.
THURSDAY
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Craft-y Happy Hour at Menin Hospitality hotspot Bodega kicked off the night with inventive libations and a make-your-own guacamole stand in South Beach. Over at the beachside tents, Barilla’s Italian Bites on the Beach was going strong with eager attendees ready to get their fix of the very best of this cuisine. Chef José Andrés turned up Miami-style with his Paella & Tapas by the Pool at the SLS South Beach. And Chef Daniel Boulud hosted a world-class dinner at his downtown Miami gem, db Bistro Moderne, with a culinary all-star team behind him, featuring dishes from the world’s top female chef Dominique Crenn and Altramarea’s Chef Michael White.
FRIDAY
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Festival-goers got their oyster fix at Lure Fishbar‘s Oyster Bash with Island Creek Oysters hosted by Josh Capon and Jeremy Sewall in the late afternoon, prepping their palettes for the nighttime signature Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where guests got to indulge in food & wine pairings from 60 of the nation’s top chefs. At the opulent Faena Hotel, the priciest ticketed dinner of $850/person was underway hosted by Osteria Francescana–the No. 1 Restaurant in the World–owner Massimo Bottura with special guest Giada De Laurentiis. One of the festival’s biggest and most anticipated events, the Heineken Light Burger Bash hosted by Rachel Ray, took place at the beachside tents for a battle of the burgers. Shweid & Sons Burgers took home the prize for the Very Best Burger, presented by judges including Ayesha Curry, Emilio Estefan, Jill Martin, Rev Run and Adam Richman.
SATURDAY
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Chef Nobu Matsuhisa kicked off Saturday’s festivities with a decadent Japanese brunch at his Nobu Miami at the Nobu Eden Roc Hotel. Over at the tents, the festival’s signature event was packed for the Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village featuring Matercard Grand Tasting Tents & KitchenAid Culinary demonstrations by some of the world’s top chefs. Guy Fieri held a demo featuring Snoop Dogg sponsored by Tanqueray Gin, which kept the crowd going until the early evening. Later that night, the festival’s highly anticipated Tribute Dinner took place, this year honoring famed Chef José Andrés with presenters Anthony Bourdain and Gloria Estefan at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. The decorated chef was honored alongside Louis Roederer group owners and 6th and 7th generation members of the family, Jean-Claude Rouzaud and Frédéric Rouzaud. Later that evening, things got rowdy over at Monty’s Sunset for Guy Fieri‘s ticketed “Food Fight” as well as the main tent’s Bacardí on the Beach, with beats by Rev Run and DJ Ruckus.
SUNDAY
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Day 2 of the Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village was just as packed as the day before, and David Grutman held court at the first-ever Grutman Experience exhibition at the Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village with world-famous music sensation Ingrosso. Up North, Neil Patrick Harris along with David Burtka hosted a brunch on Oscar Sunday dedicated to everyone’s favorite daytime cocktail: Bloody Marys. Perrier-Jouët hosted The Art of Champagne Belle Epoque Wine Spectator Seminar presented by Bank of America over at The Palms Hotel, where guests got to indulge in grand tastings of the regal bubbly. The weekend closed out with Lucky Chopsticks hosted by Andrew Zimmern over at the main tent, where the biggest names in Asian cuisine offered signature bites from their restaurants. Menin Hospitality’s newest gem, Ricky’s, was one of the event’s main sponsors, and offered delicious Miso Glazed pork buns as well as photo experiences and live music to put a sweet end to the weekend.
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